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Group Predicts Saturday Is The Apocalypse

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MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – If you planned on voting early, attending the Exxxotica convention, or just catching some rays on South Beach; you might want to do it before Saturday. That’s because one Christian radio network is giving Saturday a forecast of apocalypse, with a chance of rapture.

CBS4’s Jorge Estevez profiled the billboards that sprung up in South Florida and around the country paid for by the Family Radio network earlier this year. The network’s president, 89-year-old Harold Camping, has said that Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. will be when time runs out on the world.

Camping, a civil engineer, is basing his prediction for the apocalypse and second coming of Jesus on two Bible passages. The first is in second book of Peter in the New Testament.

Camping said the 2 Peter passage says that “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day.” By his deduction, Camping implies this to mean 7,000 years from the great flood will be the end of the world.

He also cites the book of Genesis. Camping said Genesis states, the flood began on the “17th day of the second month.” In his interpretation of the Jewish calendar, that date is May 21.

Combining the two, Camping has come up with Saturday as the date of the apocalypse. And what will happen precisely as 6:00 p.m., well, Camping said great earthquakes will be felt to start the apocalypse.

But don’t start worrying about not knowing if the Heat can beat the Bulls, or what the final episodes of Oprah will look like on television. Camping also predicted the world would end in 1994, which only happened for hard-core Nirvana fans.

And if you think you’ve heard stories like this before, you have. The most famous was from William Miller who founded the so-called Millerite movement. Miller predicted the world would end in 1843.

He would go on to correct his time period to October 22, 1844. But on October 23, 1844, the previous day turned into the “Great Disappointment” for Millerites; and Miller’s movement lost credibility and steam after that.

Just as an extra note, the forecast for Sunday in South Florida is a slight chance of showers, highs near 86, and some disappointed Family Radio network followers.